RE: "And I get javelins from your like- minded bros?" - think of them as, "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."

I think what Diane might have been subtly trying to say, was that squirrels scampering across her lawn holds more relevance for her as does whether or not a sad, pathetic little Jewish rabbi lived a couple of thousand years ago. She also said there is no proof of his existence, and I've yet to see you provide any.

"Billions know about him" - billions know what four anonymous men who never met him, wrote about him - not quite the same thing.

"He is world famous" - only because the four anonymous men who wrote about him (who never met him), said that he said that he could give people eternal life, and because few people really want to die, fear, and the hope that those men were telling the truth, made him famous, along, of course, with the outrageous stories they wrote about how he performed actions contrary to the laws of physics.

"millions gave their lives for Him" - whether or not millions gave their lives is irrelevant, as they certainly didn't do it for him. If he ever existed, he is long since dead, and couldn't possibly benefit from anyone giving their lives, or doing anything else people might choose to do.

What I have is a sense of humor. I was poking fun at myself since you intimated that the people who had responded thus far to your premise seemed to have ADD.

What I was also trying to say was that I don't care whether or not Jesus existed, historically or otherwise. There were no 1st grade barbs there. I was merely stating a fact, as you claim to be doing also.

There might be a lot of people here who like to discuss whether or not Jesus existed but I am not one of them. I thought that was a legitimate response to your statements. I was trying to respectfully ask you, "And your point is...?" I believe you were the one who threw the barbs.

When I say that "hominid Jesus" probably existed, I phrase it that way to make it abundantly clear that I don't ascribe any miracles or divinity to him whatsoever. I think he was probably very much like the guy on the street corner with the sign, screaming to passersby that the end is near. (There are plenty of apocalyptic bits in the gospels, though the later the gospel was written, the fewer such references there are--it was becoming embarrassingly obvious that the world wasn't going to end on schedule.)

Needless to say my "concession" that Jesus probably existed doesn't do the Christian trying to convert me a lick of good.